On board Senegalese navy searching for migrants on popular but deadly route to Europe

DAKAR, Senegal — As dawn arrived off the coast of Senegal, navy commander Assane Seye scanned the horizon.

He is captain of the Niani, one of three new patrol vessels tasked with patrolling the waters off the West African country in search of a rapidly growing number of vulnerable boats carrying migrants on the one of the deadliest migration routes in the world.

Dozens of people pile onto wooden fishing boats called pirogues and risk their lives on a journey to Spain’s Canary Islands, which have become the preferred landing point for West African migrants dreaming of a better life in Europe.

The Associated Press was granted rare access to one of the Navy’s night patrols.

With just a glance, Seye and his colleagues can tell whether a boat is out fishing or migrating. The number of people crammed on board is their clue.

“Since January 1, 2024, the Navy has rescued 4,780 people,” he said. This is up from 2023.

Oumar Ndiaye, a lieutenant, said they intercepted a wooden boat with more than 200 people on board a month ago.

“There were a large number of people on board this canoe in really difficult conditions, who had already spent two or three days at sea,” he said. Intercepting such boats is a humanitarian mission, he added.

Seye said the navy is obligated to bring migrants to safety whether they call for help or not.

“All it takes is a change in the weather, or one wrong move by the captain, for the canoe to turn over and people to be in danger,” he explained.

Patrol teams pick up migrants and bring them back to shore. Once there, they are free to walk away – and perhaps try again. But if they come from another country, they are repatriated.

Until recently, the Mediterranean was the main migration route from West Africa to Europe. But the European Union has sent money to Libya and Tunisia, popular departure points in North Africa, in a bid to curb immigration from those countries.

Today the route via the Canary Islands is very busy. In June, the number of “irregular” migrants landing in Spain was almost double that of the same period in 2023, according to the Spanish Interior Ministry. Spain recorded almost 25,000 such arrivals in the first half of 2024.

Earlier this year, the EU signed a 210 million euro deal with Senegal’s neighbor Mauritania to prevent smugglers from launching boats bound for Spain.

The route to the Mediterranean and the one to the Canary Islands can be deadly.

Although there is no precise toll due to the lack of information on departures from West Africa, the Spanish association for the defense of migrants’ rights Walking Borders estimates that victims on the route of Canary Islands number in the thousands this year alone.

Some troubled boats have drifted across the Atlantic, with the bodies inside posing a mystery to those who find them.

Migration is a controversial issue in Senegal. New President Barrious Diomaye Faye campaigned promising reforms to improve the living standards of ordinary Senegalese, with the aim of keeping them at home.

Proposed reforms include renegotiating fishing permits for foreign countries – often accused of crowding out local fishermen – and securing a greater share of Senegal’s natural resources for the local population.

More than 60% of Senegalese people are under 25 years old and 90% have informal jobs. They watched for years as money from natural resources went overseas.

Senegal went to the polls on Sunday for legislative elections called for September after the president dissolved the opposition-led parliament. Winning a majority in Parliament would allow him to pass the reforms he has promised.

But some young Senegalese are not discouraged by the risks posed by the journey to Europe. They say that the economic situation in Senegal leaves them no choice.